‘Don’t be afraid for the marshes’: The battle to save Iraq’s waterways | Climate Crisis

‘Don’t be afraid for the marshes’: The battle to save Iraq’s waterways | Climate Crisis

Abu Abbas knew more about the Iraqi Marshes than most, having lived there his entire life. So when the Iraqi government of former dictator Saddam Hussein drained the wetlands of southern Iraq in the early 1990s, Abu Abbas witnessed the devastation. Then a decade later, as young men with picks…

In Texas, pro-Palestine university protesters clash with state leaders | Israel War on Gaza News

In Texas, pro-Palestine university protesters clash with state leaders | Israel War on Gaza News

Austin, Texas – “It didn’t feel real.” That’s how Alishba Javaid, a student at the University of Texas at Austin, describes the moment when she saw roughly 30 state troopers walk onto the campus lawn. Javaid and hundreds of her classmates had gathered on the grass, in the shadow of…

Palestinian employee of German development agency ‘abused’ in Israeli jail | Israel War on Gaza News

Palestinian employee of German development agency ‘abused’ in Israeli jail | Israel War on Gaza News

Berlin, Germany – A Palestinian employee of Germany’s state-funded development agency has been imprisoned in Israel for more than a month, where she has been beaten and subject to abusive and humiliating treatment, her family members and lawyer say. Baraa Odeh, 34, works for the German Agency for International Cooperation…

How a Gaza protest at Indiana University became a battle for free speech | Israel War on Gaza News

How a Gaza protest at Indiana University became a battle for free speech | Israel War on Gaza News

The sun was casting shadows onto the green grass of Dunn Meadow at Indiana University Bloomington, as a line of police carrying batons and shields moved forward. Across from the police stood a daisy chain of protesters, their arms linked in front of a newly established pro-Palestine encampment. The cluster…

Sudan’s original ‘Janjaweed’ leader sides with army against tribal foe | Features News

Sudan’s original ‘Janjaweed’ leader sides with army against tribal foe | Features News

In a new twist in Sudan’s civil war, a notorious tribal chief has re-emerged from obscurity to support the army. Named Musa Hilal, he is the original leader of the nomadic (also referred to as “Arab”) tribal militias, known as the Janjaweed, responsible for atrocities during the Darfur War that…

Hinglaj Yatra Hindu festival brings mountainous region in Pakistan to life | Religion

Hinglaj Yatra Hindu festival brings mountainous region in Pakistan to life | Religion

The dramatic surroundings of Hingol National Park in Balochistan province are the setting for Pakistan’s largest Hindu celebration, Hinglaj Yatra, which started on Friday and ends on Sunday. Muslim-majority Pakistan is home to 4.4 million Hindus, just 2.14 percent of the population, and the ancient cave temple of Hinglaj Mata…

How an ancient water tunnel design is cooling 21st-century streets | Water News

How an ancient water tunnel design is cooling 21st-century streets | Water News

Last summer, temperatures in the southern Spanish city of Seville hit more than 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). The heatwave was so intense it earned itself a name: Heatwave Yago, the city’s second named event in two years. Seville, among other cities in Europe and around the world, is…

The inexplicable rise of kidney disease in Sri Lanka’s farming communities | Health

The inexplicable rise of kidney disease in Sri Lanka’s farming communities | Health

Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka – In the sleepy, verdant village of Ambagaswewa, in the Polonnaruwa district of Sri Lanka’s North Central province, 63-year-old TMH Gamini Sunil Thennakoon’s life is peaceful for the most part. On the brink of retirement, he still spends most days out working his rice paddies but is…